: 127 

Copy 2 



I 



The Ferry Road 



on 



Lon^ Island 



By 



Eugene L. Armbruster 



THE FERRY ROAD 



ON 



LONG ISLAND 



BV 

EUGENE L. ARMBRUSTER/ 



\Mth Six Illustrations 
and Tliree Maps 



Edition limited to 300 copies, 
of which this is No. / 



Price $2.00 

New York 
1919 



Copyright 1 91 9 

by 

Eugene L. Armbruster 



Published 
April 8th, 1919 



XdTAr 



^ 



yol.A516 



085 C^ 



APR I0|y,'9 ' 



•^ 'U 



THE CONTENTS 



The Ferrv Road (Illustration) .... 4 

The Indians ....... 5 

Bruijkleen Colonic ,....• 6 

The Corporation House (lUustration) ... 8 

rhe Kings Highway ...... 9 

The Brooklyn, Jamaica and Flatbush Turnpike Road 13 

The Ferries ....... 13 

Ferrv Boat Nassau (Illustration) . . . -14 

Brooklyn Village . . . • . . 16 

The Road to the Ferry on Manhattan Island . 17 

Map of Lower Manhattan Island (Illustration) . 18 
De Stad-Herberg (Illustration) . . . -19 

Map of Nieuw Amsterdam (Illustration) . . 20 

Brooklyn Ferry and the Old P'erry Road . . 22 

The New Ferry and the New Ferry Road . 24 

Fulton Street . . . . . ■ • ^5 

Travelling Facilities ...... 26 

Fulton Avenue . . . . . . ■ ~1 

Second Breukelen Church (Illustration) . . 28 
Howard's Inn (Illustration) . . . . -3^ 

I'he Flatbush Road i3 

First Dutch Church on Long Island (Illustration) 36 




THE -FERRY -Road 



THE INDIANS 

Fulton Street and its ferry landing play the most important 
part in the history of Brooklyn. Two centuries passed by be- 
fore Brooklyn became a city, and during that period, while 
there were settlements in other parts of the town, Brooklyn as 
a compact community, was confined to this small jiortion be- 
tween the ferry and Red Hook Lane. Fulton Street and its 
ferry landing existed, however, in a primitive form, to be 
sure, for centuries before the first white man set foot upon 
Long Island soil. Tracing the history of this island road is a 
highly interesting study, for its beginning is Fulton Ferry and 
its end is Montauk Point. 

I'pon Manhattan Island was a certain parcel of land, culti- 
vated by the Indians, which attracted the attention of Governor 
Wouter Van Twiller, this connoisseur of good lands, in the early 
days. The Indians called it Sappohanican and upon it Greenwich 
Village was built in later times. The North River was its west- 
ern boundary and its eastern line was formed by a creek, com- 
ing from the upper part of the island and running into the 
North River; this creek was called Bestevaer Killetje. At the 
same point another creek flowed into the river coming from the 
chain of swamps and ponds, which were connected with each 
other by streams of water, and stretched across the island from 
west to east. One of these ponds was the famous Fresh Water 
Pond, or Collect. From the Collect a creek flowed into the East 
River near the Bestevaer Swamp, known as the Old Wreck 
Brook or the Old Kil. Thus the Bestevaer Killetje and the Old 
Kil formed one continuous waterway and cut Manhattan Island 
into two islands. The various bands of the Big Bird and Big 
Animal tribes living in Westchester County and on the New 
Jersey shore, used this water route on visiting their fellow tribes- 
men which dwelt upon Long Island. Hence the names Beste- 
vaer Killetje and Bestevaer Swamp, i. c, old men's or wise 
men's creek resp. swamp. The old men or wise men of these 
bands journeyed over this creek and past this swamp to the 
council place, which was upon the Green Hills, the ridge which 

5 



forms the beginning of the so-called backbone of Long Island. 
This council place was called Bestevaer for the same reason for 
which these names were applied to the creek and swamp, and 
that vicinity is still known as Bedford, the anglicized form of 
the Indian name. Having reached the mouth of the Old Kil, 
the canoes of the Indians entered upon the East River, which 
they crossed, and the landing was made in a cove at a point 
which is to-day known as Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn. From this 
cove an Indian trail led to the council place, at a point where 
the lands of the Big Bird and Big Animal tribes joined. An- 
other branch led to the main village of the Canarsee Indians on 
Jamaica Bay, called Keshkechqueren. The Canarsee, coming 
from the bay, reached the council place by way of a creek, 
which was also known as Bestevaer Kil, and in later days, under 
the English rule, as Bedford Creek. Having used the creek as 
far as it was possible for the canoes, the journey was continued 
upon an Indian trail leading to the council place. Near the lat- 
tei' was a depression in the hills and the trail met here the one 
coming from the landing place. The aborigines crossed the river 
from the mouth of the Old Kil in a straight line and landed in 
the cove on the Long Island shore. The Dutch made their ferry 
landings at the identical jjlaces. The one on Manhattan Island 
was at what is now Pearl Street, in back of Peck Slip. Beste- 
vaer Swamp, later known as Beekman's Swamp, was here ; the 
Dutch called it Bestevaer Kreupelbosch. The swamp was cov- 
ered with bushes and such vegetation as is generally fc)imd on 
swampy grounds, the tides of the river covered the tract at 
times as far as beyond present Gold Street, and that section is 
to this day known as the Swamp. 

BRUIJKLEEN COLONIE 

When the Dutch West India Company started to colonize 
New Netherland, large tracts of land, generally called manors, 
were granted to rich merchants of the Netherlands, who were 
among the directors of the company. These manors, excepting 
one, Rensellaerwijck, had proven failures, as the patroons found 
it impossible to secure a sufficient number of men who were 

6 



willing to ship to the new country and cultivate the wild lands 
for them. The West India Company then started upon a new 
l)olicy. Willem Kieft was appointed governor ; he bought land 
across the East River of the Indians and began a new colony on 
the site of present Brooklyn. The land was granted in smaller 
])arcels to the colonists, who became the owners of these pieces 
of land, which they cultivated. This new experiment was start- 
ed in 1638. After a few years the colonists became more 
numerous and a rowboat ferry was established, one Cornells 
Dircksen being the ferryman. The Company erected a tavern, 
called the Stad-herberg, on the Manhattan Island shore, where 
the Long Island colonists found shelter for the night, being 
brought over to Long Island in the morning and back to Man- 
hattan Island at nightfall by this ferryman, until they had 
cleared their lands and were able to erect dwellings upon their 
plantations. This colony was called Bruijkleen Colonic, which 
means colony of freeholders, bruijkleen being the Dutch word 
for free loan. The Indian trail passed through Maereckkaakwick, 
a village of a Big Bird band. Above the Indian village the trail 
forked, one branch leading to Keshkechqueren, the other to the 
council place. The trail continued along the base of the Green 
Hills, on the north side, as far as the New Lotts of Bushwick, 
where it crossed over the hills. That part of the trail leading 
over the hills here has become famous as the Rockaway foot- 
path through an incident connected with the Battle of Long 
Island. The trail hence led to Rechouwhacky, another village 
of the Canarsee band, situated on Rockaway Bay, and passed 
the village of a conquered band which dwelt within the Can- 
arsee territory and was known as Chameken (at present Ja- 
maica). The trail ran further to the land of the Marsapeague 
band, which latter was after a few years joined by their fellow 
tribesmen, the Maereckkaakwick Indians, who had in the mean- 
time sold their lands in Kings County to the white men and who 
became known in their new abode as Merric or Merricoke band. 
The Indian trail running through the Bruijkleen Colonic was 
within a comparatively short time widened into a wagon road 
and became known as the Ferry Road. A settlement sprang up 
at the landing place which became known as Bruijkleen Veer or 

7 



Bruijkleen Ferry. Another settlement was started in 1645 on 
the site of the former Indian village Maereckkaakwick, which 
was named Breukelen in honor of an old Dutch town. .\ third 
settlement was made along the trail leading to the bay ; this 
was called Middelwoud, Midwoud or Flatbush. A fourth one, 
on the same trail, was called Amersfoort (now Flatlands). 
Settlements were also made on the other branch of the trail, as 
Bedford, Jamaica, etc. 

Nieuw Amsterdam having been made a city in 1653, in the 
following year took over the ferry from Cornells Dircksen, as a 
valuable asset and rented out the ferry privilege. Egbert Van 
Borsum, being the ferryman in 1656, erected the first ferry 
house on the Long Island shore, which was also used as a tav- 
ern. The Stad-herberg, having been given by the West India 
Company to the municijjality of Nieuw Amsterdam for the use 
as a town hall, became known as the Stadhuijs. It was, how- 
ever, in part still used as a tavern to accommodate visitors from 
Long Island. The Corporation sold this building, which was 




THE CORPOR,ATfON HOUSE 






built of Holland brick, in 1609 to one John Rodman, reserving 
the bell, the Kings Arms and the iron parts, belonging to the 
prison, for the new City Hall, which was in the same year 
erected on upper Wall Street on the site now occujiied by the 
Sub-Treasury. On the balcony of this building George Wash- 
ington was inaugurated the first president of the United States. 
The City Hall was not to be used as a tavern in future, and a 
building for that pur])ose was erected at the Long Island side 
of the river. In 1664 the city had become known as New York 
under the English rule and thus the Corporation of New York 
had bought in 1694 a piece of land at the Long Island ferry 
landing and built in 1699-1700 a tavern of brickstone, a new 
ferry house and a landing bridge and constructed a well at an 
aggregate cost of £435. This tavern was destroyed by tire in 
1747 or '48; a new two-story tavern, sixty feet square, was 
erected in 1749, which became known as the Cor]5oration House; 
this, too, was consumed by fire in 1812 and its ruins were taken 
down in 1817. 

THE KINGS HIGHWAY 

In 1704 Governor Cornbviry ap])ointed a commission, which 
laid out the Kings Highway. The latter was built along the 
two lines of the Ferry Road, one leading to Jamaica, and the 
oth.er to Flatbush and Flatlands. There were also a number of 
branch-roads established, which all were included under the 
appellation of the Kings Highway. These were : Red Hook 
Lane, leading to the Red Hook ; Gowanus Lane, running along 
the line of present Fifth Avenue to Gowanus Cove; the Big 
L;ine, or Church Lane, running from the Flatbush branch to 
Flatlands Neck ; the Little Lane, or Lott's Lane, running from 
the Flatbush branch to Canarsie ; the Clove Road, leading from 
Bedford Corners to the salt meadows and to Flatbush Village ; 
the Cripplebush Lane, running from Bedford Corners to the 
Ciipplebush settlement ; the Old Bushwick Road, running from 
the Jamaica branch to the Bushwick Road. At the point where 
the Old Bushwick Road branched off the Kings Highway the 
latter ran through a depression in the hills, /'. c, between two 



hills. This is what the British termed the Jamaica Pass in 1776. 
The Indian trail had skirted the easterly side of the easternmost 
of the two hills and was called the Rockaway footpath. At 
about present Reid Avenue, where the Four Mile House later 
stood, the Kings Highway struck the Hunterfly Road. The two 
main lines were both known as the Ferry Road, from the ferry 
to Jamaica, as well as through Flatbush to Flatlands Village. 
Within the later Brooklyn village limits the road was known as 
Ferry Road until a branch road had been established along 
present line of Main Street in 1795; then there was an Old 
Ferry Road and a New Ferry Road. In 1817 the Old Ferry 
Read was renamed Fulton Street, in honor of Roljert Fulton, 
and the name was applied to the road within the village limits. 
Outside these limits the road became Fulton Avenue when 
Brooklyn city came into existence. The popular name was, 
however, the Jamaica Turnpike ; the story of the turnpike road 
will be found elsewhere. In the early 40's the road became 
known as the Jamaica and Brooklyn Plank Road above the Four 
Mile House, and South Country Road it was beyond Jamaica. 
The branch leading to Flatbush became known in 1809 as the 
Brooklyn and Flatbush Turnpike Road; in 1855, within the 
limits of Flatbush and Flatlands as the Brooklyn and Flatbush 
Plank Road, and in 1856, within the Brooklyn town limits, as 
Flatbush Avenue. 

The mail stages from New York to Philadelphia were running 
in 1730 once a fortnight during the winter months. The trip, 
starting from the Crown and Thistle Tavern, near the Half 
Moon Battery and Whitehall, down the bay, was made upon 
specially constructed boats ; then Staten Island and Achter 
Kil had to be crossed. Arriving at the "Blazing Star" the road 
was taken to New Brunswick, where the Raritan River was 
crossed in a scow ; at Trenton the Delaware was crossed in the 
same way ; a third river was crossed on a floating bridge of 
planks, and Philadelphia was reached on the third or fourth day. 
In 1741 Brooklyn Ferry was made a relay station for the mail 
coach connecting His British Majesty's Colonies of New Eng- 
land and Virginia, and for a few short years the Kings Highway 
experienced all the life connected with the Royal Mail Service. 

10 



Passengers were ferried over from New York, the mail coach 
with six, eight or more horses was escorted by a number of sol- 
diers on horseback and the journey was begun along the high- 
way to Flatbush, Gravesend and Denyse's Ferry (later Fort 
Hamilton). Here the stage coach was set over the Narrows to 
Staten Island, the run was continued across the island and by 
ferry to Perth Amboy ; thence to Burlington, Philadelphia, etc. 
After a few years this route was superseded by a more direct 
line. In 1753 John Lane informs the public that he now keeps 
the ferry at Yellow Hook on Long Island, six miles below New 
York Ferry, and that he has provided good boats, well fitted 
with proper hands antl will be ready at all times, wind and 
weather permitting, to go to Smith's Ferry on Staten Island 
"with a single man only" ( /. c. with one passenger, if need be). 
He advises travellers to observe, from Flatbush to Sand Ferry, 
to keep the marked trees on the right hand. Connection could 
be made with the mail coach by this ferry, but the glory of the 
Royal Mail Service had departed from the Kings Highway, and 
the redcoats galloping along were now only a memory, which 
furnished the material for the conversation carried on around 
the firesides of many a farm house during the long winter even- 
ings, when the howling wind tried its best to unroof the old 
homestead which had witnessed all these things in its younger 
days. The clumsy farmer wagon was now supreme upon the 
Kings Highway until in 1772 a stage coach route was estab- 
lished from Brooklyn Ferry to Sag Harbor, the stage coach run- 
ning once a week, and then came the Flushing coach. The stage 
coaches brought new life upon the highway; there was no mil- 
itary splendor connected with them, but their appearance was 
an event in the quiet life of the farmhouse dwellers along the 
road. The Flushing stage coach began to run in 1801, and with 
various changes continued until 1854, when the opening of the 
Flushing and North Shore Railroad put an end to its useful- 
ness. 

The various branches of the Kings Highway were the theatre 
upon which the Battle of Long Island was enacted on that fate- 
ful morning of August 27th, 1776, and the skirmishes which 
preceded that Struggle. Cornwallis, who held Flatbush village. 



was relieved by De Heister and the latter advanced now against 
the American Hnes of outer defences which were near tlie vil- 
lage across the Ferry Road and its vicinity and were commanded 
by Gen. Sullivan, Col. I\Iiles and Col. Parsons. Sir Henry 
Clinton, Lords Percy, Cornwallis and Howe had moved towards 
New Lotts and taken possession of the Rockaway Path, and the 
entire force of the right wing of the British army marched now 
along the Kings Highway toward Bedford, and spread its line 
all along down to the junction of the Jamaica and Flatbush 
roads. The left wing and centre of the army advanced under 
General Grant along the Shore Road and Martense Lane to- 
wards Brooklyn. De Heister opened the cannonade from Flat- 
bush village early in the morning and took the redoubt at Valley 
Grove. The Americans were driven back. A British force un- 
der Clinton and Cornwallis now cut through the American lines 
at the Clove Road commanded by Col. Miles. The two sections 
of the Americans became entangled during the retreat along the 
Port Road, which lead to Gowanus. They were exposed to the 
fire of the enemy's cannon, which were set up along the Jamaica 
Road, paralleling their line of retreat. The slaughter lasted 
from 9 o'clock until noon ; Gen. Sullivan was taken prisoner. 
Gen. Stirling had occupied a position u])on the Gowanus Road 
at Gowanus Bay. Being informed of the enemy's advance, he 
marched toward the Port Road. With him were the Delaware 
Battalion, the RLiryland Regiment, the Connecticut Regiment 
and Col. Parsons forces: they were also joined by Col. Atlee's 
Pennsylvania Regiment, which had fallen back before Gen. 
Grant's forces. Stirling took position near Greenwood. The 
British coming from the woods, the struggle began. Col. Atlee 
and his corps were captured. Stirling went to attack Corn- 
wallis, who occupied the Cortelyou house. The Marylanders 
attacked that building three times, but in vain. Some escaped 
across the Gowanus marsh. Stirling surrendered to De Heister. 
The American casualties were 2,500 in killed, wovmded and pris- 
oners. On the 29th the remainder of the American forces 
crossed the river to Manhattan Island. The embarkation was 
made at Brooklyn Ferry, Gen. McDougall superintending the 
movement. On the morning of the 30th the evacuation of the 



island was completed and the British remained in full posses- 
sion of the island until hostilities ceased. 

THE BROOKLYN, JAMAICA AND FLATBUSH 
TURNPIKE ROAD 

The Brooklyn, Jamaica and Elathush Turnpike Company was 
incorporated on March 17th, 1809, and laid its turnpike upon the 
two main branches of the Kings Highway. Both were old 
Dutch roads, having originally been constructed by the Dutch 
authorities along the Indian trails. The company abandoned in 
1827 that portion of its road which lay within the village limits, 
viz., below Red Hook Lane. This consisted of the two branches 
leading to the Old Ferry and the New Ferry and became now 
public highways of the village of Brooklyn. As late as 1840 
all public highways were dirt roads ; the first exception was the 
Jamaica and Brooklyn Plank Road, of which, however, only a 
small fraction was within the city limits. The Ferry Road 
forked at a point which is now the centre of the area bounded 
by Atlantic Avenue, Pacific Street, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. 
One arm of the turnpike road led to Jamaica and was later 
extended to Hempstead, 21 miles from the ferry, and still later 
to Bat)ylon, 39 miles in all, by other companies. The other 
branch le.l through present Prospect Park, over Flatbush Hill, 
through the \'alley Grove into and through the town of Flat- 
bush, on to Flatlands, where it ended on what is still known as 
Kings Highway. A stage line, running to Flatbush, was estab- 
lished in 1830, and the Turnpike Company commenced running 
stages to Jamaica in 1832. 

THE FERRIES 

Several changes were made in the ferry landings in course 
of the years. Orders were given in 1707 that the boats should 
make the landings on the New York shore on Mondays and 
Thursdays at Countess Key, /. c, on foot of Maiden Lane, 
where the Fly Market had just been erected ; Tuesdays and Fri- 
days at the Burgher's Path, i. c, at Hanover Square; Wednes- 

13 



days and Saturdays at Coentis Slip. In 1717 two ferries were 
provided to run from the old Long Island landing, viz., the 
Nassau Ferry, carrying cattle, goods and passengers to the 
above mentioned three New York slips, and the New York 
Ferry, carrying only goods and passengers to Hanover 
Square and Coentis Slip. In 1774 three ferries were established 
with landings in New York at Coentis Slip, Fly Market and 
Peck Slip. On the Long Island shore were two landings pro- 
vided, the one at the original landing place and another at the 
Red Mills, at the foot of later Atlantic Street. In 1795 the New 
Ferry was established, running between the Olympia settlement, 
now Main Street, Brooklyn, and Catherine Street, New York 
City. In 1803 the Old Ferry, or Fly Market Ferry, and the 
New Ferry, or Catherine Street Ferry, were the only two ferries 
running. The Old Ferry operated then two kinds of boats: the 
barges, rowed by four men each and holding eight or ten persons, 
and the sailboats, with deep bottoms. These had no regular 
steersman and the first passenger to arrive took the helm ; horses 
and wagons were in the bottom of the sailboat, exposed to all 
kinds of weather, like the passengers. Then came the horse 
boats, which were propelled by continually driving two or four 
horses around a pole in the hold of the boat. The horses were 
attached to this pole and the latter was connected by a gear 
movement which rotated the paddle wheels. 
The Old Ferry lease expiring in 181, \ Robert Fulton and 




ffiTfiWitllflTi'T. 

"mm. 






14 



^y- 



William Cutting obtained a franchise for a ferry to begin to 
run in 1814 from Old Ferry Street, Brooklyn, to Fly Market 
and Burling Slips, New York. The slip for the steamboat was 
constructed at Beekman's Slip, next to Burling's Slip, and the 
old landing at Fly Market was abandoned. The boats of Fulton 
were twin boats, having two complete hulls, connected by a 
bridge and shaped on both ends alike, so that they could cross 
and recross the river without turning around, like the ferry- 
boats of to-day. The first steamboat on this ferry was the 
Nassau, also called Sail, which began running on May 10th, 
1814. This boat carried as many as 550 passengers, besides a 
few wagons, on one trip. On account of the yellow fever in 
1822, business activities of New York had been transferred to 
Greenwich Village, and the Nassau plied then between Brook- 
lyn and Greenwich. Besides the Nassau, were built in 1814 the 
Long Island Star, and the Decatur ; the latter was built as a 
horseboat but was altered into a steamboat. Robert Fulton died 
on February 23rd, 1815. Among the later boats which were 
running on this ferry at one time or another, we mention the 
William Cutting, built in 1827 ; the Olive Branch, in 1836 ; this 
was the first single keel boat and carried passengers only ; it 
was the favorite boat. The Relief, built in 1837, was exchanged, 
together with the Long Island Star, for the Over and the Rough 
and Ready, built for the Jackson Ferry Company; the Suffolk, 
1841; Union, 1844; Montauk, 1846; Wyandank, 1847; Transit, 
1847; Bedford, 1848; Manhattan, 1849; Whitehall, 1850; Gow- 
anus, 1851; Fulton, 1852; Brooklyn, 1853; Nassau, 1853; At- 
lantic, 1854; Peconic, Roslyn and Manhasset, 1860; Hamilton, 
L'nion and America, 1862 ; New York, Baltic and Republic, 
1863. The Clinton and Somerset were built by the LTnited States 
Government during the War in 1865 ; the Monticello and Co- 
lumbia were built in 1867 ; the Mineola in 1868 ; Winona, 1869, 
and the iron-constructed Fulton and Farragut in 1871. The 
Fulton Ferryhouse in Brooklyn was improved in 1865 and was 
replaced by a new building in 1871 costing $138,000; a niche 
had been prepared on the outer part of the structure in which 
a statue of Robert Fulton was installed in 1873. The statue is 
10 feet 6 inches high ; the inventor is leaning on the model of 

15 



the Nassau. The material used is zinc, and the casting was 
done in Seeley's foundry in Maujer Street ; the statue was 
painted white. The model was made by an artist of the name 
of Buberl from the only known picture of Fulton, made by 
Jarvis, and owned by Cadwallader Colden, Fulton's biograjiher. 
Mrs. Colden later gave it to Dr. Vinton. 

BROOKLYN VILLAGE 

At the close of the Revolutionary War there were fifty-six 
buildings within the boundaries of the later village. A Fire 
District was formed in 1801, including the area lying between 
the Ferry, the Ferry Road, Red Hook Lane, District Street 
(later Atlantic Street), and the East River to the Ferry again. 
In 181G Brooklyn Village was incorporated, embracing the area 
of the former Fire District. The farm lands near the Ferry 
Road within the village limits were then the Ludlow and the 
Hicks farms, between the shore and Hicks Street ; the Middagh 
farm, bounded by Hicks and Waring Street; the Swartcope 
farm, extending to Pierrepont Street ; the Pierrepont and the 
Remsen lands, extending to Joralemon Street, and the Jorale- 
mon lands, beyond that street. Just south of the Hicks farm lay 
Samuel Jackson's land, called Clover Hill. The beach road later 
became known as Furman Street. Sign posts were erected along 
Fulton Street to the village limits in 1818. A gravel sidewalk 
was laid, curbstones were set up, and the houses were numbered 
in 1822 within the same limits along this street. A stone walk 
was made from the ferry gate to Water Street, where the 
Steamboat Hotel stood, near the easterly corner, in 1825. Street 
lamps were proposed to be erected in 1828, at an estimated cost 
of $14. ,31 a lamp per annum. The street was widened in 1835 
from Front Street to Water Street by the demolition of the 
buildings on the easterly side, known as the democratic side, the 
opposite side being the aristocratic side. On September 9th, 
1848, a destructive fire started in the store of George Drew at 
122 Fulton Street, nearly opposite Sands Street. The houses 
on both sides of the street, from Poplar to Pineapple Street, 
were laid in ashes, the fire raging from Henry to Washington 

i6 



Streets. The building line was now set back on both sides in the 
devastated section, thus widening the street here also. The fire 
destroyed four church edifices, the First Presbyterian, on Fulton 
Street ; the Universalist, corner Fulton and Pineapple Street ; 
the Ba])tist, on Nassau, and the Sands Street Methodist Epis- 
copal Church. 

THE ROAD TO THE FERRY ON M.VNHATTAN 
ISLAND 

We have followed the development of the Ferry Road on 
Long Island ; there was, however, another road on Manhattan 
Island, which virtually was a part of the Ferry Road, the ferry- 
man's boat being the connecting link between the two roads. 
Nieuw Amsterdam could in the early days of its existence boast 
of two highways ; one on the eastern shore, running from the 
fort to the ferry; the second, running near the western shore, 
led from the fort to the upper part of the island. The ferry 
stairs were near what is to-day known as Pearl and Ferry 
Streets ; nearby were the ferryman's farmhouse and inn under 
one roof. At Skipper Louw's Point, named probably for Skip- 
per Laurens Cornelissen Van der Wei, on the right, stood a 
watermill at the mouth of the Old Kil. This creek came down 
from the Collect through Wolphert's Meadow and was crossed 
by a bridge at present Park Row. A record of 1()95 mentions a 
bridge over the Fresh Water, made at a cost of il 16s. In 
back of the landing or passage place was the Bestevaer Kreupel- 
bosch, later known as Beekman's Swamp, which became the 
property of Jacobus Roosevelt in 1732, who paid to the city 
£300 for a quitclaim. The road led from the neck of land at 
the swamp, alongside the present line of Pearl Street ; on the 
one side was the beach, on the other was a blufl:', to Burgher's 
Pad. Thence along Hoogh Straet to the Heere Gracht, which 
was an inlet from the river, where Broad Street is to-day. The 
gracht was crossed by a bridge and the road continued through 
Brugh Straet (now Bridge Street) to the fort. The large ware- 
house of Isaac AUerton stood upon the road, near Beekman 
Street. Several of the wealthier inhabitants, men in the emjiloy 

17 



LOWER MANHATTAN ISLAND 




«•« c^*^^ 



of the West India Company, erected their country residences 
up<.>n the hhift along the road. Among these was C'orneHus Wan 
Tienhoven, who built his house upon the Gouwenberg, a name 
applied to one part of the bluff. A steep lane led up to the 
house, from the road, along the present line of John Street. 
The name Gouwenberg evidently originated from the abun- 
dance, upon this elevation, of a plant called Gouw, /. c. Cela- 
dine, swallow-wort, horned or prickly poppy. The anglicized 
name. Golden Hill, was later applied to part of John Street. 
The Van Tienhoven house, then owned by one \'an der Cliff, 
became a public resort. At ]\Iaiden Lane stood the blacksmith 
shop of Cornelius Ciopper. He monopolized the blacksmithing 
business of the Long Island farmers, who could not enter the 




J3e .StA])- HERSSRG-, 



Citv Gate without passing his door. While the horses were 
being shod, or the wheel tires repaired, the farmers partook of 
refreshments at his house. The vicinity was named de Smid's 
vallei, for his shop. This name was anglicized into Smith's Fly, 
hence the name Fly Market. The Stad-Herberg stood on the 
line of Coentis Slip, its site now being known as 71-73 Pearl 
Street. Jacobus Van Cortlandt constructed Coentis Slip in 1696. 
Alongside the slip stood the house of Daniel Rapalye, a dry 
goods merchant: it was erected in 1697. Upon an eminence 
north of Wall Street stood Jan \'inje's windmill. At present 
Wall Street was the City Gate or Water Gate, which is shown 
upon the map of 1661 as quite an imposing structure, while the 
land gate, upon the western road, at present Wall Street and 

19 



NIEUW AMSTERDAM 




Bioadway, is much jilaiiier. At tliat time the Ferry Road was 
the main entrance to the city, as the greater part of strangers 
and countrymen, visiting the city, came from Long Island. 

While the Road to the Ferry, alias "the road," had been run- 
ning along the river shore in the earlier days, gradually three 
more streets were constructed on what was formerly land under 
water. Water Street was laid out about 1693. The city agreed 
to build a slip twenty-four feet wide on both sides of Maiden 
Slip, after Water Street would liave been finished. The name 
Water Street was applied in 17 M). After a while Front Street 
was built. South Street was constructed in certain places in 
1750. Water Street was paved in 1752, and was now in a fit 
condition to relieve the old Ferry Road of the traffic which had 
been upon it since the ferry had been established, a century 
back. The entire road and its environments were now to be 
transformed. The city having built the slip on Maiden Lane, 
the landing place was transferred to this new slip, and the ferry 
stairs led up to the Fly Market, which had been built in 1706. 
The bluff above the road was now, in 1750, dug down and a 
street established, which was known as Queen Street, and is now 
a part of Pearl Street. Ferry Street had in course of time 
developed from a foot path, running across the Bestevaer Kreup- 
elbosch, into a wagon road, and was in 1749 ceded to the city. 
On South Street, at the foot of Ferry Street, Peck's 
Slip was constructed in 1755 by Benjamin Peck, a mer- 
chant. Beekman Street was laid out and paved in 1750, Wil- 
liam Beekman having purchased in 16/0 land here, which had 
been granted in 1642 to Philip de Truy. William Walton built 
in 1753 his palatial house on Queen Street, which existed, 
though altered, until 1881. For years the section near the East 
River shore remained fashionable. George Washington's resi- 
dence, at the time of his inauguration, was one block north of 
Peck Slip, near the head of Dover Street, at the junction of 
Pearl and Cherry Streets. This building was later the resi- 
dence of Walter Franklin, a Quaker and wealthy merchant. 
Governor DeWitt Clinton, Franklin's son-in-law, subsequently 
resided here. In the 30's of the 19th century, this house was 
a part of the famous hotel called the Bunker Mansion House. 



Twenty years later the lower parts had been converted into 
shops. In the rear, on Pearl Street, was the Quaker Meeting- 
house, the Quakers, for the greater part, residing in this neigh- 
borhood, between Chatham Street and Maiden Lane. John 
Jacob Astor's house was two doors from the Quaker Meeting- 
house, at then 81 Queen Street. Many of the members of the 
First Congress, which opened in 1789, resided on present Pearl 
Street. Catherine Street was in 1803 still an unpaved lane with 
hills on either side. The Fly Market consisted then of three 
market buildings between Pearl Street and the river, streets 
dividing them ; two were meat markets ; the third, nearest the 
shore, was called the country market. Every afternoon the farm- 
ers came over from Long Island in rowboats with their produce, 
and every morning the marketmen and women were here with 
their full baskets. The Catherine Street market consisted then 
of two market buildings. 

BROOKLYN FERRY AND THE OLD FERRY ROAD 

At the beginning of the 19th Century Brooklyn Ferry was a 
cluster of taverns, livery stables and stores. People visiting any 
part of the island were brought to this point by the boats from 
New York City. They found good horses in the stables if they 
desired to make the journey on horseback. Stage coaches 
leaving for any point on the island started from here. Coaches 
could be hired for private use, and before the start was made a 
good meal could be had at a reasonable price. A drygoods 
store, hardware store, stationery and book store were here ; this 
was the shopping center for the majority of Long Island folks. 
In the first three decades of the new century the settlement, 
though steadily progressing, did not materially change in appear- 
ance. The '30s, however, brought numerous stage lines, which 
ran to the county towns and other places, and eventually stages 
left the ferry at almost any hour (luring the day. At Brooklyn 
Ferry travellers were spending several hours before starting 
upon a journey, and any place where people assemble in such 
manner is bound to grow so rapidly that comparatively nearby 
sections cannot keej) pace with it. Thus when Brooklyn was 



made a city in 1834 Brooklyn Ferry was the city, while the 
remainder of the large former town was still a farming district. 
Going up the Ferry Road we will point out a few of the most 
noteworthy buildings and other ii])jects of interest which we 
pass. Perhaps fifty feet distant from the ferry gate we come 
upon the Liljerty pole, the original site being occupied by a pole 
set up on July 4th, 1822. On the right hand side John Bedell's 
stage house and grocery, a two-story framehouse, with the livery 
stables, occupied the site of the old cattle enclosure, where the 
cattle, brought to the ferry from all parts of the island for the 
New York market, used to await transportation across the river. 
On Flizabcth Street stood the old stone tavern, to which Benja- 
min Smith removed after the Corporation House was destroyed 
by fire in 1812. It was a two-story structure, fifty feet wide, 
and known in later days as Smith and Wood's Tavern or the 
Long Island Stage House. The New York newspapers were 
left here by the ferryman, to be called for by the subscribers. 
At Aert Street, now Henry Street, stood the two-story Middagh 
framehouse, with its gable end to the street, until 1868. In the 
days of the Revolution the waters of the East River would have 
splashed against the curbstones on Front Street, at high tide, 
had they been then in their place. The space between the ferry 
gate and the site of the Corporation House was now filled in 
and built u]ion. This shows that the original ferry landing was 
a miniature cove : the road and the land on the right side of the 
road extended out into the river a good deal further than the 
land on the left side. The boat was here protected against the 
waves while loading and unloading. On the left side, at Water 
Street, stood Captain King's Tavern, subsequently known as 
Barnum's, the Steamboat Hotel and finally the Franklin House. 
Further up was the site of the Corporation House. On Mill 
Road, later Front Street, stood the John Rapalye house, two 
stories high and built of Holland brick, until 1807. Between 
the Corporation House and the Rapalye House stood the first 
engine house, erected upon a gore-lot at the end of the 18th 
century. The fire bell, i)urchased by the village of the Dutch 
church in 1822, was installed upon the roof of the Remsen 
house, on the site of the Rapalye house. Across Front Street 

23 



stood a very old frame building, in which the first post-office 
was located in 1818. Another very old building, one and a half 
stories high and built of small yellow Holland brick, was 
nearby ; this is believed to have been the original John Rapalye 
homestead ; the British held divine services in here occasionally. 
Thomas Kirk's printing office was in 1790 at the corner of Front 
Street : he printed the first number of the Courier of New York 
and Long Island Advocate on June 26th, 1799. Also on corner 
of Front Street were Robinson & Little, who jirinted the first 
number of the Long Island Weekly Intelligencer on May 26th, 
1806. Further up is an old yellow frame building with seats 
on both sides of the front door, the house of John Doughty, 
who held during his long life nearly all, if not all, offices con- 
nected with the village and town. Then we notice a iiouse 
which is believed to have been built by Rem Jansen Van der 
Beeck, the ancestor of the Remsen family. It was the home of 
Jacob Patchen when it was removed to Jackson Street, to give 
space for the opening of Market Street in IS.U. The Hicks 
homestead, a two-story stone house, stood at Hicks Street. The 
entrance to the wagon yard of the British army was near 
Main Street. 

THE NEW FERRY AND NEW FERRY ROAD 

Having followed the Old Ferry Road to tliis ])oint, we must 
retrace our steps toward the river front and go to the New 
Ferry. The Ferrv Road had shortly before the close of the 
18th century been provided with a second ferry landing and 
with a short lane, which, after crossing a few streets, connected 
with the road. The lands of John Rapalye, lying between the 
Brooklyn Ferry and the Wallabout Bay, having been confis- 
cated, were sold in 1784 to the Sands brothers, who laid them 
out in streets four years later. The proprietors applied the 
name Olympia to their place, which was expected to be the 
coming city on account of its superior situation. A ferry was 
established in 1795 and with it a street from the ferry landing 
to a point in the Ferry Road, where the latter makes a sharp 
curve, so that the Ferry Road and the new street together 

«4 



formed an almost straight line. This landing place became 
known as New Ferry and finally as Catherine Ferry and the 
street as New Ferry Road and later as Main Street, while the 
other branch of the road was now known as Old Ferry Road. 
The New Ferry was also called the Teamboat Ferry and the 
Old Ferry was called Steamboat Ferry. There were no build- 
ings of special interest along this street and we can go further 
along the Ferry Road. 

FULTON STREET 

From the junction point of the Old and New Ferry Roads to 
Red Hook Lane the Ferry Road was known as I'ulton Street. 
The Apprentices' Library was built in 1824-25 on the south- 
westerly corner of Henry and Cranberry Streets, about 100 
feet from Fulton Street. The city purchased the building in 
1836 for the sum of 11,000 dollars; there was a small building at- 
tached. Together they were known as the City Buildings and 
were used for the courts and for public meetings. In 1858 the 
City Buildings were taken down and the City Armory was 
erected on the site at a cost of 14,300 dollars. A one and one-half 
story structure, built of small Holland brick, stood near the 
corner of Nassau Street, fifteen feet above the level of the 
road. It was occupietl by the Colonial Legislature as Sessions 
House during the prevalence of the smallpox in New York City 
in 1746 and again in 1752. It was also the headquarters of 
eleneral Israel I'utnam in 1776, prior to the Battle of Long 
Island. The building was part of the confiscated Rapalye 
estate. The ground for the City Hall, an open field of one and 
one-half acres in extent, was purchased for the sum of 52,909 
dollars. The cornerstone was laid on April 28, 1836; a quantity 
of valuable books and papers having been enclosed in the stone. 
The financial panic of 1837 halted the erection of the building 
for an indefinite period. In 1845 the walls, as far as they had 
been put up, were demolished and in Alarch, 1846, a new, 
smaller building was started. Whether the original corner- 
stone was used again or taken out, or else remained in its old 
place, seems to be not known. The sum expended for the 

25 



ground and first operations was 193,254 dollars ; for removal of 
old walls and erection of structure and furnishing, 521,746 
dollars; total, 715,000 dollars. When Henry Clay visited 
Brooklyn in 1839 he addressed the people in a field near the 
City Hall site. A cornfield was on what is now jNlontague 
Street. Court Street was not cut through then. Joralemon's 
Lane, now Joralemon Street, was a little-used country lane laid 
out in 1762, 32 feed wide; forty years later its width was in- 
creased to 50 feet. .\ Liberty pole was erected at the junction 
of Fulton Street and Joralemon's Lane on Evacuation Day in 
1834. Military Garden was opened in 1810 by Col. Greene on 
the right side of the road and along Joralemon's Lane. In back 
of it was the Potter's Field. The garden was later known as 
Brooklyn Garden and existed until about 1860. On its site the 
Kings County Court House was erected, 1862-65, the ground, 
then owned by John Schenck, being purchased for the sum of 
70,000 dollars. The Municipal Building, adjoining, was erected 
at a cost of 199,979 dollars 48 cents. It was completed in 1878 
and taken down in 1915. The Hall of Records was built on 
the other side of the Court House in 1885-86 at a cost of 
275,000 dollars. Red Hook Lane was in the village days the 
most important thoroughfare next to the Ferry Road ; it sepa- 
rated the village from the Tunis Johnson Farm, which embraced 
nearly 100 acres of land. The lane was also the means of 
reaching the mills and farms of South Brooklyn. The builder, 
James E. Underbill, erected about 1830 his residence on this 
lane off Fulton Street. In 1850 this building became the head- 
quarters of the Board of Education and was occupied by that 
body until 1888. 

TRAVELLING FACILITIES 

In 1832 the Brooklyn and Jamaica Rail Road Company was 
incorporated and received a charter, for the term of fifty years, 
to build a steam railroad upon the Jamaica branch of the Ferry 
Road, as far as Jamaica, and operate same. Brooklyn, having 
become a city in 1834, wished to possess a highway from the 
Ferry to Bedford, which would not be obstructed by a steam 

26 



railroad, and laid out in ISof, the Bedford Road, running from 
the intersection of Bridge and Concord Streets to the Jamaica 
Turnpike, where the latter joined the Clove Road at Bedford 
Corners. In 1837 the Brooklyn and Jamaica Rail Road Com- 
pany was authorized to alter its route and the straight line of 
present Atlantic Avenue, from Flatbush Avenue eastwards, was 
substituted for the crooked line of the Turnpike and the Bed- 
ford Road was abandoned. The lower portion of the Turnpike 
having been ceded to the village and Atlantic Street in the city 
being a continuation of Atlantic Avenue in a straight line, was 
selected for the terminus of the railroad and from its foot 
South Ferry connected with New York City. 

Stages were running to Flatbush as early as 1830. The doors 
were on the side of the vehicles. Straw packed on the floor 
kept the passengers tolerably warm and little whale-oil lamps 
furnished light. Extra horses, stationed at certain points, were 
hitched on to help pull the stages up steep hills. Omnibusses 
were introduced in January, 1834 : these were a new kind of 
stage coaches, having the doors on the rear end. They were not 
running over special routes, but picked up passengers, whose 
wishes often determined tlie further course of the vehicle: the 
fare was 12'/, cents, or one shilling. There were soon many 
stage lines, the majority starting off from Samuel S. Jones' 
American Hotel at 26 Fulton Street, the site of the old stone 
tavern. 

In 1854 horse cars began to run from Fulton h\'rry, on Ful- 
ton Avenue, Court Street, Myrtle Avenue and Flushing Avenue. 
The first cars were former stage coaches, set on four wheels, 
with a king bolt in the center upon which the vehicle could be 
turned, while the wheels remained motionless. A steady pin in 
the front had to be pulled out, and after the car had been turned 
the pin was put back in its place. 

FULTOX A\'ENUE 

Fulton Avenue above Bridge Street was still a country road in 

the early 50's. There were there still two Dutch farmhouses with 

gable roofs and bullseyes in the doors on this avenue below 

present junction of Flatbush Avenue. The Breukelen graveyard 

27 



had been established along the Indian trail and a blockhouse was 
built in the grounds for the protection of the settlers against 
attacks by the Indians. The church edifice, erected in 1666, 
tradition says, was reared upon the foundation of this block- 
house. The Indian trail was gradually widened to a road, with 
the church building in its center, between present Lawrence and 
Bridge Streets. The burying ground was confined to the west 
of the edifice. The latter was built of stone and resembled the 
meeting house erected in 1699 at Jamaica. The churchyard 







comprised about one-half acre of ground and continued to be 
used for burial purposes until 1848. The oldest tombstone hav- 
ing any mark which could be distinguished, a century ago, bore 
the date of 1730. In 1866 the families of the old Breukelen 
settlers were advised to remove the remains of the bodies, as 
otherwise the latter would be removed to Greenwood Cemetery. 
Finally 78 bodies were taken out and, enclosed in 12 metallic 
caskets, were placed in the church vault in Greenwood Cemetery. 
The site of the graveyard on Fulton Avenue between Gallatin 
Place and Hoyt Street was sold in 1869 to A. S. Wheeler for 
112,000 dollars and is now occupied by the Abraham & Straus 

28 



Department Store. The church eihfice was replaced by a new 
structure in 1766 on the same site. The bell used in the first 
structure, a gift of the West India Company, received some 
years before the first church was built, was again put in this 
building, but was in 1822 sold to the village of Brooklyn for 
the sum of £49 4s. raised by subscription by the citizens. It 
has been asserted that, at the time of the Battle of Long Island, 
Washington hekl his military council here in this building. 
During the British occupation services of the Church of Eng- 
land were held here for the soldiers. The E.nglish language 
was introduced in the regular services in 1792. In 1807 a new 
edifice was dedicated on a new site, as the old church was stand- 
ing in the way of a coming improvement, the Turnpike. The 
Brooklyn folks held on the old grim-looking edifice as long as 
possible, but the Turnjiike was being laid, and in 1810 the 
structure was taken down. Furman tells us that in removing 
it, the workmen found the remains of an Hessian officer who 
had been buried there in his uniform during the Revolutionary 
War. The old church site then became known as Brooklyn 
Square. The site of the third edifice was on Joralemon's 
Lane and was purchased in 1805 of John Jackson for 
the sum of 850 dollars. This edifice was built of gray stone, 
with small windows and a sijuare tower in front, surmounted by 
a square cupola; its cost was 13,745 dollars and 53 cents. It 
was dedicated on December 23rd, 1807. \\'hen this structure 
was taken down the stones were used in constructing the first 
Trinity or later St. Luke's Episcopal Church, on Clinton Avenue. 
The fourth edifice, on the site of the third one, was dedicated 
in 1835, it being 111x66 feet, and on the Crecian order. When 
a new site was purchased for a church building, the ground on 
Joralemon Street was sold in 1886 for the sum of 250,000 dol- 
lars. The Dutch church erected in 1811 a chai^el on Middagh 
Street, which was later sold, and was occupied by P. S. No. 6. 
In the earlier days the Dominie used to stay at the house of the 
clerk of the Session between Sabbath services. Johannes de 
Bevoise, the town clerk of Breukelen, was also clerk of the 
Session for many vears. The old one-story house, which stood 
on the left side of the road near the westerly corner of Duffield 

29 



Street, was his home. His daughter, Margaret, married Dr. 
John Duffield, an army surgeon, and the house became known 
as the Duffield house. It is believed to have been built by Carel 
de Bevois and was occu])ied by the British during the occupa- 
tion of Long Island. It was destroyed Ijy tire on April 14th, 
185.7. The Duffield estate extended along the left side of the 
road from about Bridge Street to Duffield Street. The Duffield 
family burial ]jlace was a little west of Gold Street on the right 
side of the old road ; it was removed when Fulton Avenue was 
straightened, as it was directly on the line of the new thorough- 
fare. Further up the road stood on the right side a frame 
house, erected about the close of the 17th century by Michael 
Bergen. It was rebuilt in the time of the Revolution and was 
taken down in the early 60's. Above the Bergen house an in- 
trenchment crossed the Ferry Road during the Revolutionary 
War, which extended from Fort Putnam to Freeke's Mill Pond ; 
this part was reconstructed as an oljlong redoubt during the 
War of 1812-14 and was then known as Fort Cummings. A 
tollgate was erected in 1809 near the point where the Ferry 
Road forked, a little south of Hanson Place. After Atlantic 
Avenue had been laid out the tollgate was set up at the present 
corner of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues in 1842. When the 
Flatbush Plank Road w^as constructed in 1855 the tollgate was 
removed to a point south of the \^alley drove Tavern. After 
Prospect Park was established and the road was reconstructed 
outside the park limits, the tollgate was set up opposite the 
Willink estate. When that part of Flatbush, which was included 
in Prospect Park, was annexed by Brooklyn, the tollgate was 
removed within the Flatbush town limits and was standing in 
1880 on Flatbush Avenue and Hawthorne Street. An old farm- 
house, the Couwenhoven house, stood, shaded by large willow 
trees, on the west side of present Fort Greene Place, near 
Atlantic Avenue, facing south, with gable end to the Ferry 
Road, some 450 feet south of the tollgate ; it was taken down 
in the 60's. Two hundred feet southward stood Baker's Tavern, 
mentioned in Onderdonck's Revolutionary Incidents. In the 
40's of the 19th century this was known as the Old Bull's Head 
Tavern and the Long Island Rail Road trains used to stop in 

30 



front of the place ; the present Long Island Rail Road Depot is 
said to occupy its site. Charles B. Holder erected the Three 
Mile House in 1854 on Fulton Avenue, near New York Avenue; 
this was taken down in 1^13. Having left the tollgate and 
present Flatbush Avenue, which latter continued to Flatbush and 
Flatlands, the Jamaica Turnpike Road ran through fields, farms 
and woods to Bedford Corners. From this point the Cripple- 
bush Road led to the Cripplebush settlement, where it struck the 
Newtown Road. The Clove Road ran from Bedford Corners 
in the opposite direction through the "Kloof" or cleft in the 
hills, to the salt meadows, sending out a branch which led to 
Flatbush \'illage. At Bedford Corners were a number of old 
houses, as the Tiebout, Selover and Vanderbeeck houses. The 
one on the s. w. corner of the Clove Road, probably built by 
Andries Andriese, in 1759, came with all the land in the posses- 
sion of Jacobus Letl'erts. It was surrounded by locust trees, 
and its roof gave sheUer to Major Andre, General Gray, etc:; 
It was taken down in 1877. The Rem Remsen house was taken 
down about 1840. The village schoolhouse stood on the right 
side of the Cripplebush Road, on coming from Bedford Corners ; 
it was a one-story frame building and became P. S. No. 3. A 
brewhouse stood in 1701 on the Cripplebush Road. The 
Johannes Remsen house is .said to have been built in 17irv, it 
was taken down in 1838. The village burying ground and the 
Lefferts family burial ground were in its rear on the right side 
of the Cripplebush Road, and the Remsen burial place on the 
other side of the same road. The Nicholas Bloom house was 
rebuilt in 1787 and was four years later purchased by Lefifert 
Lefferts; it was taken down in 1909, being then known as 1224 
Fulton Street. Then there were the .-\braham Van Enden 
house, taken down in 1819, and the Lambert Suydam house, 
which stood until 1856. In 1840 the view as far as East New 
York was unobstructed by any building. William Simonson's 
Four Mile House stood at the junction of the Ferry Road and 
Hunterfly Road, between present Reid and Patchen Avenues. 
From here the Jamaica and and Brooklyn Plank Road was con- 
structed in the early 40's, the tollgate standing originally near 
the Four Mile House. In the 80's there were toUgates on either 



31 



side of the Plank Road on the left jnst Ijelow Eldert Avenue, 
and on the right side at Hemlock Street ; the Plank Road within 
the old Brooklyn town limits having been ceded to the city in 
1852 to be used as a public street; the Brooklyn and Jamaica 
Turn])ike Road, likewise having been ceded three years prior. 
Howard's Halfway House, or the Rising Sun Tavern, stood at 
the junction of the Ferry Road and Old Bushwick Road, having 
been built by William Howard in 1715. The British forced the 




HOWARD^s INN. 

tavern-keeper and his little son to lead them over the Rockaway 
Path in the early morning hours of August 27th, 1776. Here 
also General Woodliull received nourishment and had his 
wounds dressed on his way to New Utrecht. The Howard 
estate was sold in 1867. A big white oak tree stood in the 
middle of the road, a little east of the tavern, at the time of the 
Revolution. It was in later time struck by lightning. The Isaac 
Schenck farmhouse, standing on the right side of the road 
between Linwood and Essex Streets, is now included in High- 
land Park. 



32 



THE FLATBUSH ROAD 
Between the junction point of the Jamaica and Flatbush 
Roads and the Flatbush town hue were only a few houses, none 
of which was of historical interest. Halfway up the Flatbush 
Hill stood a small building, and on the top, in the midst of the 
woods, stood another house, which had never been finished. 
Past these few houses the road ran through fields and woods 
over Flatbush Hill to the Valley Grove. The latter was so 
called on account of the denser shadows caused by the sandpit 
on the side. In the lowest part of the valley stood on the 
easterly side of the road, at its junction with the Port Road, 
the Valley Grove Tavern, also called Hicks' Port Tavern; this 
building was taken down when Prospect Park came into ex- 
istence. The name Port was applied to the Valley, meaning the 
entrance to Flatbush ; it was a little beyond the Three Mile Post 
from Brooklyn Ferry. The Port Road was a narrow, stony 
road, leading to Gowanus ; it was also called Shinpike Road, be- 
cause by using this road to Red Hook Lane the farmers avoided 
the tollgate upon the turnpike. The toUgate stood at one time 
near the tavern, and until the day of the Battle of Long Island 
a white oak tree of immense size had stood here also, which had 
been one of the landmarks mentioned in Dongan's patent for 
the Town of Flatbush. This oak tree was cut down at that 
memorable dav and laid across the Flatbush Road to obstruct 
the march of 'the British towards Brooklyn. From the valley 
the road continued over China Hill, a little bowl-shaped lull, 
propelling into the lower ground, so as to cover the road into 
Flatbush village. A battery was constructed upon it, which was 
supposed to hold the British in check. Prospect Park was 
started in 1862 and was opened to the i.ublic in 1867. In 1855 
citizens of Flatbush formed the Brooklyn and Flatbush Plank 
Road Companv and purchased of the Brooklyn, Jamaica and 
Flatbush Turnpike Company the latter's interest in the flatbush 
Road The City of Brooklvn now constructed present ITatbush 
Avenue from Fulton Avenue, Brooklyn, to the Flatbush town 
line to the right of the turnpike road. In this new highway 
the curving lines of the old road were eliminated. After Pros- 
pect Park had been established that part of the road which ran 

33 



through the park area had, of necessity, to he altered again to 
exckide the highway traffic from the park. The Plank Road 
Company laid its plank road upon the old turnpike road through 
the towns of Flatbush and Flatlands and was permitted to 
charge toll for the use of the road from Flatbush Church to 
Flatlands Church. The footwalks were four feet above the 
roadway and were lined with big horse chestnut trees. The 
walks were reached from the road by inclined planks, under 
wliich the rainwater ran off. When the plank road became 
worn out the company hired prisoners from the authorities of 
the Kings County Penitentiary and macadamized the road. 
Flatbush Avenue was opened in 1856 from Fulton Avenue to 
the entrance of Flatbush village and the old turnpike road was 
then closed. The Plank Road proper was finished in 1858, and 
in I860 the Brooklyn City Rail Road Company bought the right 
of way from the Plank Road Company and built a single track 
with a switch at Winthrop Street. The first cars ran in 1860 
to the Brooklvn city limits, where they were met by the omni- 
bus ; later the horse car line was completed to the Vernon 
Avenue depot, and the omnibus passed into disuse. Through 
the town of Flatbush the road had been known as the Ferry 
Road in the olden days, and subsequently as Kings Highway, 
the Turnpike Road and the Plank Road. Dr. Strong called it 
in 1842 Fulton Street and the popular local name was Main 
Road. The same names were applied through the town of 
Flatlands, exce])ting the name I'ulton Street. The popular name 
used within this town, however, was Flatbush Road and later Flat- 
bush Avenue. In 1872 it was decided to straighten the old roads 
in the county, and in 1877 this road was straightened throughout 
Flatlands and was extended to Jamaica Bay. Many old houses 
stood along the road through Flatbush ; space does not permit 
to notice all. Among the most noteworthy were the Lefferts 
house on the left side ; the original structure had been erected 
in 1666, was burned during the Revolutionary War and was 
rebuilt. It bore the number 563 on Flatbush Avenue when it 
was removed in 1917 to Prospect Park. Across the road stood 
the Jeremiah Vanderbilt homestead, also burned down at the 
same time. The Adrian Hegeman stone house on the left side, 

34 



between Midwood Street and Rutland Road, had the same fate. 
On the right side of the road stood a house buih in 1710, which 
was also destroyed ; on its site J. Birdsall erected about 1800 
the frame house, which is still standing with its gable end to 
the road, and known as the Murphy house. The Cortelyou 
house on left side, on corner of Hawthorne Street, was erected 
about 1794; it has been razed, (jn the right stood the LetTert 
Martense frame house with gable end to the road ; it was 
another victim of the war of '76 and was rebuilt ; Judge Mar- 
tense took it down. On the left side, between Winthrop Street 
and Parkside .Avenue, stood Melrose Hall, built in 1749. This 
building was removed in the 80's of the last century and its 
main portion removed to Bedford .A.venue. On the Parkside 
Avenue corner stood in 1720 the house of John Aertsen Vander- 
bilt ; this was a century later known as the Van Couwenhoven 
house and was soon thereafter razed. On the corner of Clark- 
sou Street stood an old tavern on the site later occupied by the 
Neefus house. Between Clarkson Street and Lenox Road stood 
the Johannes Lott house, built in 1800, which was taken down. 
On the right side, between Clarkson and Caton Avenues, were 
the grounds of General Philip S. Crooke ; the house was built 
in 1800. The Jacobus Lefferts house stood at the Cross Roads 
I. ('. the Ferry Road and Church Lane, built at the end of the 17th 
century and rebuilt by Jacob LetYert. It became known as the 
Zabriskie house and was taken down in 1877. Between Caton 
Avenue and Church Lane stood an old house which was in 1835 
removed across the road by Captain Story, who remodelled it. 
The Clarkson house was occupied by soldiers in the War of 
1812-14; it was later taken down and re-erected in Brooklyn, 
wdiere it became a part of the Mansion House on Hicks Street. 
On the left side of the road, at the corner of Martense Street, 
stood the brick house erected by Pieter Strycker in 1696, which 
was taken down about 1850. On Cow Lane, alias Dutchman's 
Lane, later b^ast Broadway, and now part of Church Avenue, 
stood the Waldron house, a Dutch farmhouse of which Michael 
Neefus became the owner later on : a Liberty pole stood in front 
of the house. Ne.xt to it was the one-story stone building of 
the village school. The Dutch language was used here ex- 

35 



clusively until 17(i2, and was dropped altogether in 1777. The 
British used the schoolhouse as the principal hospital in the war ; 
it was razed in 1803. During the War of 1812-14 the Federal 
Government erected a gun house upon the site. Erasmus Hall, 
adjoining the schoolhouse site, was erected in 1786-87 at a cost 
of 6,250 dollars. The J. Vanderveer house stood on the corner 
of Grant Street. Below (irant Street was the old home of the 
Bergen family. Then came the old house purchased in 1711 for 
a parsonage; it was demolished in 1891. The Jacobus Vander- 
venter house was erected in 1781 near Tilden Avenue; south of 




it was a large pond. Across Tilden Avenue, formerly Vernon 
Avenue, was Smith Birdsall's stage house, (ioing back to the 
Cross Roads, we come on the right side of the Ferry Road, upon 
the site of the first Dutch chtu'ch erected on Long Island. This 
was at the corner of the road to New Utrecht and Bath, alias 
Cow Lane, Church Lane, at present Church Avenue. The 
first edifice was erected in 1654-6, costing 4,637 guilders; this 
was taken down in 1698. The second edifice was erected in 
1699, costing £4,873, 77. During the Revolutionary War it was 
used as hospital, prison and stable. After the battle of August 
27th, 1776, the wounded prisoners were brought to this build- 
ing. John Vanderbilt donated the bell in 1796. The third 
edifice, standing to-day, was erected in 1793-96, at a cost of 

36 



12,000 dollars. The Dutch lansua.sje was used exclusively here 
until 1792, then the afternoon services were held in English. 
The last Dutch sermon was delivered in 1824. When the secon<l 
building was taken down and the foundation had to be removed, 
it became necessar}- to transfer the remains of the bodies buried 
under the church ; they were placed in ground in front of the 
new edifice. A frame chajiel was built in 1830 ; it was used as 
consistory room and as Sunday school. The new Sunday school 
having been erected in 1871 on Flatbush Avenue and Grant 
Street, this frame structure near the church was taken down 
in 1881. Dr. Strong says about the parsonage; "In the first 
church edifice there had been accommodation for the minister 
and his family, but when this edifice was razed in 1698 a 
separate jiarsonage was i)rol)al)ly built. This was the parsonage 
of all the Dutch towns, and subsecjuently Flatbush came into sole 
possession of the property by purchase. It was a long, low 
building, without any windows in the second story and with a 
heavy, steep roof after the pattern of the first Dutch houses. 
When a new parsonage was built for the Rev. Dr. Strong in 
1823 on part of the old school site, the Rev. Martinus Schoon- 
maker continued to reside in the old stone parsonage until his 
death, which occurred in 1824. Later the building was taken 
down and a new one was erected in 1853 at this site, and a cost 
of 9,888 dollars and 22 cents. In the cemetery in the rear of 
the church and facing Church Lane, stood a one-story building 
intended for the temporary reception of the dead : this was used 
at one time as the engine house by the volunteer firemen. Kings 
County was created in 1683 and the County Court House was 
built in Ui86 here south of the church; a second building was 
erected in 1758, costing 448 dollars; at the same time a jail was 
built. One of these two buildings was destroyed by fire and 
the site was cleared of both. The third Court House building 
was then erected, which was used by the Hessians as barracks. 
It was taken down in 1792; in the same year the fourth Court 
House was built at a cost of 2,944 dollars 71 cents, also stocks 
and a whipping post were set U]x All were consumed by fire 
on November 30th, 1832, and the County Court was then re- 
moved to the village of Brooklyn. The town records were kept 

37 



in the Dutch language until 1776. Between the church grounds 
and the Court House stood a tavern and on the southern side 
of the Court House plot were two more taverns. The first 
mentioned was the inn of the Widow Schoonmaker ; this build- 
ing was standing until 1917. On the south side of the Court 
House stood the Van Beuren tavern, kept by the family of that 
name as early as 1760; adjoining was the tavern of Duryea 
Wiggins. At the corner of present Albemarle Road was 
Dominie Freeman's house, a two and a half story structure, 
erected about 1735. David Clarkson married the Dominie's 
daughter and the house became known as the Clarkson house 
during the Revolutionary War, when it was used as a hospital 
after the battle. In later times it was known as the John C. 
Bergen house, and was taken down in 1900 or 1901. On what 
was at one time the corner of Waverley Avenue stood a house 
erected before the Revolution. Dr. Schoonmaker, the son of 
the Dominie, owned it at one time. The Rev. Dr. Livingston 
lived here in 1794; it was razed. Across Waverley Avenue, 
which has since been closed, stood on the corner the Abraham 
Vanderveer stone farmhouse. At Beverley Road, with its gable 
end to the road, stood a house erected in 1803 by Dominie 
Schoonmaker of lumber taken from the old court house, which 
had been pulled down in 1792; it was removed in 1895 for the 
opening of a street. On the left side of the road, near Tilden 
Avenue, stood the Van Beuren homestead, later known as the 
Jacob Duryea house. The surrounding ground and the struc- 
ture were jnirchased by the Brooklyn City Rail Road, which 
erected its horse car depot here. The Cornelius Duryea house, 
a large building standing on the Canarsie Lane, has been razed. 
At Cortelyou Road, on the right side of the Ferry Road, stood 
the house of Jeremiah Lott, who surveyed and mapped Brooklyn 
Village; it was taken down about 1893. The Suydam house was 
a long, low building, its second story being without windows. 
Andrew Suydam's daughter married John Ditmas and the house 
became known as the Ditmas-Suydam house ; it was taken down. 
The Henry J. Ditmas house was built with its gable end to the 
road, about 1800. Further south stood the Ditmas homestead, 
built of stone. The Allgeo house stood at the extreme southern 

3S 



end of Flatbush upon what was called the little flat, in the 18th 
century. On the left side of the road and opposite the Suydani 
house stood the Vanderveer homestead, erected in 1787 and 
razed in 1910. The house of Dominie Vincentius Antonides 
nearby, was used by the British as a hospital ; it was taken down 
in the 70's. 

We have now reacliecl the Flatl;uids townline. A half cen- 
tury ago there were, on the left side of the Ferry Road, the J- 
A. Lott house; the P. D. Baun and J. C. Ryder houses on the 
right side. Further along on the left the J. Wyckoflf house and 
the J. H. Van Brunt house; the A. H. Hubbard house on the 
right : the G. W. Baxter house on the left : the G. H. ShafYer, 
V. K. Stephenson and W. Brush houses all on the right side. 
The Van Sinderen homestead on Hubbard's Lane near the road 
on the left side, was built in 1746 by Dominie Ulpianus Van 
Sinderen. Onderdonk describes this worthy man as a lean and 
shriveled little man with a triangular shaped hat and silver 
locks, which streamed like a meteor flowing to the troubled air 
as he whisked along with great velocity in his chaise through 
Flatbush. He now sleeps peacefully in the Flatlands graveyard, 
his tombstone bearing this inscription : "Hier leyt bet Liechaem 
van den Wel-Eerwaerde Heer Ulpianus Van Sinderen in zyn 
leeven Predicant in Kings County, Overleeden den 23 July, 
1796, oud Zynde 88 Jaeren, 7 maanden en 12 daegen." We are 
now on the church plot, which extends from the left side of 
the road to the Flatlands Neck Road. The schoolhouse is on 
the Flatbush Road, the church on the Neck Road. The first 
church edifice was erected in 1663 ; the bell was installed in 1686 ; 
this edifice was enlarged in 1762. A second edifice was erected 
on this site in 1794, a third one on the same site in 1848. It 
was somewhat damaged by fire in 1917. A lecture room was 
built near the church in 1853. The first schoolhouse was not 
standing near the church, but about 1699 a new schoolhouse 
was erected, probably in an unused part of the burial ground ; 
this one was repaired in 1792; a third one was erected in 1818, 
and a fourth one in 1861, which was enlarged in 1876. The 
first record of the school is of 1675. The burial ground includes 
the Indian burial plot on the northwest, the churchyard proper on 

39 



the west, tlie De Bauii and Tcrhune family burial places on the 
southwest, the latter being both used since 1696, and the public 
burial ground purchased by the town of Flatlands in 1886. We 
have now reached what is still called the Kings Highway, being 
a part of the Kings Highway laid out by the Commission which 
(jov. Cornbury appointed in 1704. Hendrickson's Store on the 
corner was a place of importance for the town ; the Town Coun- 
cil used to hold its sessions here, and the Courts were held in 
the cellar of this building. Flatbush Avenue having been ex- 
tended to Jamaica Bay, the road passes near Avenue P within a 
short distance from the Jeromus Lott house. This house, built 
of Holland brick and painted white, was the home of Jeromus 
Lott, son of Col. Jeromus Lott of Revolutionary times. The 
first pier on Jamaica Bay, constructed in accordance with the 
Jamaica Bay Improvement plan, at what is, at the present day, 
the end of Flatbush Avenue, was opened for business on June 
1st, 1918. Some day the waves of the Atlantic Ocean will dash 
against this extension of the old Ferry Road. 



4" 




MAY 



fQIO 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 

I'lllllllllj 



000 136 508 3 



'^Smi 



